Uncategorized

Lack of investment in others Religion causes us to turn in, Jesus calls us to look out. When we get to caught up in religion and not caught up enough in God we start worrying about our own life. We worry about ourselves, our struggles, and our own problems and forget to be a part of helping others. Religion makes my problems the priority and Jesus says we should…

Acts 9:1-2 We can’t miss how much of a contrast the book of Acts shows us. We see Philip traveling and doing great things in the name of Jesus. People are deciding to follow Jesus. Community is being built. Great things are happening because of the disciple’s faithfulness and we see some of those highlighted in chapter 8. Yet, chapter 9 opens us to…

Acts 8:26-40 Philip felt God pull on his heart and he knew he had to leave. He went down and he met a man who was reading an old Jewish scroll. Philip taught the man about Jesus, about the sacrifice that was made, about grace, new life, about baptism and following Jesus. The man’s response was, here is some water, I’d better get baptized. As a scholar,…

Acts 8: 9-25 All the people in Samaria were hearing about the gospel and being saved. Even one prominent member of society, Simon the Magician. He was known for his fancy shows and for his tricks. However, he was amazed at the power the Holy Spirit had given to the apostles and he believed in Jesus because of it. After seeing their power, and knowing the…

Acts 8:4-8 There was a terrible persecution in Jerusalem of those who believed in Christ. They were being arrested and thrown into prison. So, many of the thousands of believers in Jerusalem started spreading out from the city to safer places where they could live without persecution. As Philip went out of Jerusalem he found himself teaching and preaching in…

Ruth 1:1-6 Naomi was a woman who also walked away from her faith. We don’t know much about her husband Elimelech, but what we do know isn’t great. What we know about Naomi paints a picture of a woman who knew the right thing, but just neglected to do it. After Elimelech died, Naomi could have taken her family back home. She could have fought with her husband…

Today’s Devotional is borrowed from Walk in the Word by James McDonald. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps (1 Peter 2:21, ESV). Authentic: it’s the real thing, not a knock-off or cheap replica. And authentic is one way we describe a life worth living. A person living…

Since this week’s message is quite personal and even pretty agonizing to many of us, I’d like to give you some space to listen to the Holy Spirit instead of me. I’m including the scripture I used in the message and then I’m gonna give you some questions that continue to be helpful for me in the battle for my health. We will conclude Friday with a Scripture I…

MERRY CHRISTMAS! “When she speaks she has something worthwhile to say, and she always says it kindly.” Proverbs 31:26 (MSG) It was like we were speaking two different languages. Even though my friend and I were both talking in English, we couldn’t seem to understand each other. I started the conversation with the assumption we would see things the same way, but emotions…

“Why do you notice the little piece of dust in your friend’s eye, but you don’t notice the big piece of wood in your own eye? First, take the wood out of your own eye. Then you will see clearly to take the dust out of your friend’s eye.” (Matthew 7:3, 5b NCV) One of the most important life skills that you have to learn is conflict resolution. If you don’t, you’re…